Once Upon a Daydream

I was still awake at three last night messing about on the computer. Too much caffeine. J. is away and I’m lonely. For company in the evening, I’ve been reading other blog sites. Isn’t that sad?

I currently have an incredible amount of creative energy and absolutely zero focus. This damned blog is wasting my time! I’ve had three good ideas already today, and they’ll all end up in the blog if I could just cram writing them all into one evening before the next three come along. I have to sort out The Plot you see, so roll on displacement activities like this.

Maybe the blog is what I need, maybe it will help me get rid of all of the crap and the ranting and the static, so my plots don’t fall apart under the strain of all the different directions I want to take them in. Three new ideas a day is just too much for a book to cope with. Sheesh. You’d think I’d been taking Tyrosine (I do, sometimes) the way the ideas are tumbing out of my head at the moment.

I’ve been researching plots. Some people say there are just two plots, or three plots. My first source for three plots is:

Foster-Harris. The Basic Patterns of Plot. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959. Foster-Harris contends that there are three basic patterns of plot (p. 66):

1. “Type A, happy ending”; Foster-Harris argues that the “Type A” pattern results when the central character (which he calls the “I-nitial” character) makes a sacrifice (a decision that seems logically “wrong”) for the sake of another.
2. “Type B, unhappy ending”; this pattern follows when the “I-nitial” character does what seems logically “right” and thus fails to make the needed sacrifice.
3. “Type C, the literary plot”, in which, no matter whether we start from the happy or the unhappy fork, proceeding backwards we arrive inevitably at the question, where we stop to wail.” This pattern requires more explanation (Foster-Harris devotes a chapter to the literary plot.) In short, the “literary plot” is one that does not hinge upon decision, but fate; in it, the critical event takes place at the beginning of the story rather than the end. What follows from that event is inevitable, often tragedy. (This in fact coincides with the classical Greek notion of tragedy, which is that such events are fated and inexorable.)

[Quoted from original here]

In other words, Comedy, Tragedy, and Postmodern. The same source suggest a list of seven plots:

1. [wo]man vs. nature
2. [wo]man vs. man
3. [wo]man vs. the environment
4. [wo]man vs. machines/technology
5. [wo]man vs. the supernatural
6. [wo]man vs. self
7. [wo]man vs. god/religion

[Quoted from original here]

This article includes reference to several other ways of sorting stories into different plots, including nine from John Carroll (the virtuous whore; the troubled hero; salvation by a god; soulmate love; the mother; the value of work; fate; the origin of evil; and self-sacrifice). Seven spheres of action in fairytales from Russian folklorist Vladimir Propp, based on archetypal characters: (the villain, the provider, the helper, the king’s daughter, the dispatcher, the hero, and the false hero). And three: man versus man, man versus nature, and man versus himself. This is a similar notion to the seven “[wo]man versus…” listed above.

A British literary analyst, Colin Jackson, boldly asserts on his Web site: “There are only three stories proven to engage an audience. I choose to name them ‘Hubris’, ‘Discardation’ and ‘New Order’.” Hubris is the sin of pride, which will be punished (Jurassic Park); Discardation is the loss of something (E.T.), and New Order is an attempt to achieve change (Star Wars).

[Quoted from original here]

Denis Johnston, the Irish playwright, also says there are seven plots (this was later expanded to eight plots according to his son Rory Johnston, then nine plots when another was added by an American author, Robert Blake during a discussion of the film Casablanca which seems to contain them all!).

Denis Johnston’s plots:

1. Cinderella – Unrecognised virtue at last recognised. It’s the same story as the Tortoise and the Hare. Cinderella doesn’t have to be a girl, nor does it even have to be a love story. What is essential is that the good is despised, but is recognised in the end, something that we all want to believe.
2. Achilles – The Fatal Flaw, that is the groundwork for practically all classical tragedy, although it can be made comedy too, as in the old standard Aldwych farce. Lennox Robinson’s The Whiteheaded Boy is the Fatal Flaw In reverse.
3. Faust – The Debt that Must be Paid, the fate that catches up with all of us sooner or later. This is found in all its purity as the chase in O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones. And in a completely different mood, what else is the Cherry Orchard?
4. Tristan – that standard triangular plot of two women and one man, or two men and one woman. The Constant Nymph, or almost any French farce.
5. Circe – The Spider and the Fly. Othello. The Barretts of Wimpole Street, if you want to change the sex. And if you don’t believe me about Othello (the real plot of which is not the triangle and only incidentally jealousy) try casting it with a good Desdemona but a poor Iago.
6. Romeo and Juliet – Boy meets Girl, Boy loses Girl, Boy either finds or does not find Girl: it doesn’t matter which.
7. Orpheus – The Gift taken Away. This may take two forms: either the tragedy of the loss itself, as in Juno and the Paycock, or it may be about the search that follows the loss, as in Jason and the Golden Fleece.
8. The Hero Who Cannot Be Kept Down. The best example of this is that splendid play Harvey, made into a film with James Stewart.

[Quoted from the original here]

Robert Blake’s addition:

1. The homeless loner. The classics are the Wandering Jew and the Flying Dutchman, or Shane, The Fugitive, the Kung Fu TV series, and several Clint Eastwood characters. Mostly the drifter rides into the sunset or walks into the fog, but Aragorn, who starts as Strider in Fellowship of the Ring, transcends the archetype and becomes king.

[Quoted from the original here]

I quite like the Wandering Jew archetype: I used to love watching The Littlest Hobo as a child. My favourite from this list though, is Circe. Perhaps that’s because I like very strong plot twists, or even because I place such a high value in self-awareness/deliberation/cynicism/over-thinking things. Or maybe it’s based on the characters I like to write about, who are all old, wise and immortal and therefore not prone to making mistakes and generally quite crafty.

But there are other ways of looking at plots too, in terms of their structure rather than their archetypal resonance. I found a great student’s web page by one Clare and Emily (webpage now removed) who have something to say on this (their source is Kubis, Pat and Robert Howlands. The Complete Guide to Writing Fiction and Nonfiction: and Getting it Published. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1990):

Modern dramatic plot

1. Intent – The main character has a goal/mission.
2. 1st barrier – Something challenges the goal.
3. 1st barrier reversal – The protagonist commits an act which overcomes the barrier.
4. High point – Success is in sight. Outlook is good for the main character.
5. 2nd reversal – An event frustrates the protagonists’ progress again.
6. Catastrophe – The main character is brought down to a low point in the story. (S)he may even be permanently defeated here.
7. Resolution – The protagonist’s strengths carry him/her through the tough times into a final resolution of coping with the permanent failure or finding success after all.

[Quoted from original at marquette.edu, now removed]

Examples of the modern dramatic plot structure can be found in Shakespeare’s plays:

1. Exposition: introduces characters and setting; provides basic information about relationships between characters and an initial conflict between them. (A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Hermia doesn’t want to marry Demetrius, the man her father has picked. [...])
2. Rising Action: suspense builds;”the plot thickens.”Characters make decisions in response to the opening conflict; these decisions complicate the action.Opens up the plot, allowing for different possibilities of resolution. (A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Hermia and Lysander elope; others follow them to the woods.[...])
3. Turning Point: characters or circumstances change (for the worse or the better) due to an action upon which the main plot hinges. The central or focal point of the play, hence the main purpose of the action. (A Midsummer Night’s Dream: after ridiculous confusion, the lovers are matched appropriately.[...]
4. Falling Action: the unravelling of complications leads to the resolution of conflict. (A Midsummer Night’s Dream: the lovers’ choices receive official sanction[...]
5. Conclusion: in comedies (and romances), celebration of a new order[...]. In tragedy, this restoration of order comes at great cost; in romance, seemingly due to divine providence, manifest through improbable supernatural occurrences.[...]

[Quoted from original here]

Simple Plot

James Joyce called this the epiphany plot. Here, all events and descriptions build, each one carrying the preceding scene a bit further until a high point (climax) is reached–a grand realization. This is recommended for stories whose theme is based on discovery.

Episodic Plot

This is similar to the modern dramatic plot, except that the peaks and lows are all of equal magnitude. Usually there are many plot turns (as opposed to the two reversals in the modern dramatic plot.)

[Quoted from original at marquette.edu, now removed]

Examples of episodic plots include television series like Buffy, or the X-Files or DS9, in which a continuing mythology is built up throughout the series which leads to a final showdown at the end of each season. More on episodic and singular/simple plots in television.

The episodic plot is also found throughout ancient mythology in hero’s tales. The hero undertakes a journey, meeting various characters and fighting various battles on the way to fulfil his quest. This would fit Denis Johnston’s Orpheus plot. Examples include: The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Oresteia, Igphigenia in Aulis, The Aeneid, and Trolius and Cressida. I would like to add Beowulf to this list found here on the hero’s journey.

The American mythologist Joseph Campbell added that humans also respond instinctively to an archetypal storyline, which he called The Hero’s Journey. An individual is called on a quest, meets a mentor and various allies on the road, fights enemies before confronting the ultimate evil, goes through a symbolic death and resurrection, and eventually brings back “the elixir” to save the tribe. (If that sounds familiar, it’s because George Lucas consciously adopted Campbell’s outline for Star Wars).

[Quoted from original here]

Go here for a reference to Joseph Campbell’s book, The Hero’s Journey, and there’s also an excellent article about Joseph Campbell.

Exploring the hero’s journey further, I found a reference to a specifically feminine version, the Girls Underground archetype.

A girl, either young (around 7) or older (16) enters the Otherworld/Underworld, often because of a stupid mistake (or wish). She is first initiated and/or guided by a creature from that world. She has more than one companion, often otherworldly creatures, and together they navigate a strange path of labyrinthine nature. They are thwarted along the way by an adversary and the adversary’s minions. If the adversary is male (as it is in the older archetype), there can be some romantic/sexual aspect to their relationship. During the journey, the girl encounters some kind of drug, and spends some time forgetting herself. She interacts with people or things that are somehow connected to her normal life at home. There is often an issue of time running out, or time behaves strangely. When she nears her goal (often the rescue of a loved one), she is separated from her companions for awhile, and this culminates in a one-on-one showdown with the adversary, which frequently involves exposing a fraud. Modern versions often feature music, poetry and/or riddles. And frequently there is an animate/talking door involved.

[Quoted from Sarah Kate Istra Winter's site]

The examples given? Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, The Labyrinth. Various other stories, including Legend, bear more than a passing resemblance too. Being a great Labyrinth fan, I’ve now realised just how much this archetype has influenced my own writing. My first novel (a girl spirited away into a vampire realm) is based around this archetype.

Hourglass Plot

This story focuses on two characters’ lives that intersect. A great example of this is Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper.

[Quoted from original at marquette.edu, now removed]

I found someone complaining that they couldn’t find a book about the seven plots, who cites some good examples of the hourglass plot in Martin Amis’s books:

“One of the seven, I am sure, is the hourglass plot, in which two characters begin high and low, cross in the middle, like an hourglass, and swap positions at the end. Martin Amis, for one, can write nothing else. Success is quintessentially hourglass; and Money and The Information both rely heavily on hourglass elements.”

[Quoted from original here]

The hourglass plot is one of my favourites, as it relies heavily on characterisation and the tension created between the characters, and Martin Amis uses it to its full force. Poppy Z. Brite uses it too, in Lost Souls and in Exquisite Corpse, though she uses a more complicated form that has more than two opposing sets of characters.

I like the hourglass plot because of the energy and tension it builds up. You know that the characters will meet, that things will eventually go kaboom! with terrible or hilarious consequences.

Circle Plot

This is a difficult one to write well. Here, the core of the plot is an event or circumstance like an earthquake or a revolution. The event brings characters together to reveal the significance of the event. We see the event through multiple perspectives. Each character has his/her own dramatic or episodic plot, almost like a frametale.

[Quoted from original at marquette.edu, now removed]

“Circular stories follow a “round” pattern – they begin and end in the same. Like the cycle of seasons or the life cycle, circular stories follow a predictable series of events that returns to the starting point.”

[Quoted from original here]

I found it hard to get hold of an example of a circle plot. It seems strange that the plot regarded as one of the hardest to do well is the one that seems to be getting taught to school children. I even found an interactive circle plot tool for children. I even found an example of a circle plot in this cute little girl’s vampire story. My own stories The Widower and The Cyclamen both fit variations of the circle plot, though I had no idea that that is what I was doing when I was writing them.

Twenty Master Plots

In the book 20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them), Ronald B. Tobias lists the following:

1. Quest
2. Adventure
3. Pursuit
4. Rescue
5. Escape
6. Revenge
7. The Riddle
8. Rivalry
9. Underdog
10. Temptation
11. Metamorphis
12. Transformation
13. Maturation
14. Love
15. Forbidden Love
16. Sacrifice
17. Discovery
18. Wretched Excess
19. Ascension
20. Descension

We can see from this list how his plots overlap Denis Johnston, how some variations are separated out for individual attention, such as the Love and Forbidden Love, which Johnston groups under Romeo and Juliet., which in turn overlaps with Tristan, which might include some versions of Tobias’s Temptation. Quest is the episodic plot, the hero’s journey, or Orpheus, which might also include Pursuit and Adventure, and even The Riddle. The Underdog parallels Johnston’s Cinderella and can be found in Charlotte Bronte’s Jayne Eyre and even Austen’s Emma and Pride and Prejudice.

I wonder whether Metamorphosis differs fundamentally from Transformation and Maturation? Similarly, Ascension and Descension seem to be very broad “catch all” terms. I think my favourites are The Underdog, Metamorphosis, Forbidden Love,Discovery and Wretched Excess. What does that say about my personality?

The Thirty Six Plots

In The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations (trans. Lucille Ray), Georges Polti says that there are thirty six dramatic situations and variations on these situations. Someone added a 37^th plot, though there is no source recorded for the addition.

1. Supplication (in which the Supplicant must beg something from Power in authority)
2. Deliverance
3. Crime Pursued by Vengeance
4. Vengeance taken for kindred upon kindred
5. Pursuit
6. Disaster
7. Falling Prey to Cruelty of Misfortune
8. Revolt
9. Daring Enterprise
10. Abduction
11. The Enigma (temptation or a riddle)
12. Obtaining
13. Enmity of Kinsmen
14. Rivalry of Kinsmen
15. Murderous Adultery
16. Madness
17. Fatal Imprudence
18. Involuntary Crimes of Love (example: discovery that one has married one’s mother, sister, etc.)
19. Slaying of a Kinsman Unrecognized
20. Self-Sacrificing for an Ideal
21. Self-Sacrifice for Kindred
22. All Sacrificed for Passion
23. Necessity of Sacrificing Loved Ones
24. Rivalry of Superior and Inferior
25. Adultery
26. Crimes of Love
27. Discovery of the Dishonour of a Loved One
28. Obstacles to Love
29. An Enemy Loved
30. Ambition
31. Conflict with a God
32. Mistaken Jealousy
33. Erroneous Judgement
34. Remorse
35. Recovery of a Lost One
36. Loss of Loved Ones.
37. [Anonymous addition]: Mistaken Identity

[reproduced from here]

A full breakdown of all of Georges Polti’s thirty six plots (or thirty seven plots) can be found at the bottom of this document. We can see how these again, overlap and are distinct from Denis Johnston’s plots and Ronald Tobias’s plots. An Enemy Loved or Obstacles to Love could relate to Romeo and Juliet, Mistaken Jealousy could relate to Circe, and the example of Othello. Some are directly related: The Enigma, is of course, The Riddle.

Phew! So where does that leave us? Well, Robert Blake said that Casablanca contained all eight of Denis Johnston’s plots plus one additional plot of his own, that means we can combine elements from many plots, and all of the different perceptions here. We could use a modern literary plot for the structure, combine it with an hourglass plot in terms of the character development and then throw in Circe as the main hidden theme whilst superficially using Sacrifice/Self Sacrifice for Kindred as the story.

Now I just have to go away and put the thing together…

Full Breakdown of Georges Polti’s Thirty Six Plots

1. SUPPLICATION (To humbly petition). Elements: a persecutor, a humble petitioner, and a power in authority whose decision is doubtful.

A1 Fugitives imploring the powerful for help against their enemies.

A2 Assistance implored for the performance of a pious duty which has been forbidden.

A3 Appeals for refuge in which to die.

B1 Hospitality besought by the shipwrecked.

B2 Charity entreated by those cast off by their own people, whom they have disgraced.

B3 Expiation: the seeking of pardon, healing or deliverance.

B4 The surrender of a corpse, or relic, solicited.

C1 Supplication of the powerful for those dear to the suppliant.

C2 Supplication to a relative in behalf of another relative.

C3 Supplication to a mother’s lover, in her behalf.

2. DELIVERANCE. Elements: an unfortunate, a threatener, a rescuer.

A Appearance of a rescuer to the condemned.

B1 A parent replaced on the throne by his children.

B2 Rescue by friends, or by strangers grateful for benefits or hospitality.

3. CRIME PUNISHED BY VENGEANCE. Elements: an avenger and a criminal.

A1 The avenging of a slain parent or ancestor.

A2 The avenging of a slain child or descendant.

A3 Vengeance for a child dishonored.

A4 The avenging of a slain wife or husband.

A5 Vengeance for the dishonor, or the attempted dishonoring, of a wife.

A6 Vengeance for a mistress slain.

A7 Vengeance for a slain or injured friend.

A8 Vengeance for a sister seduced.

B1 Vengeance for intentional injury or spoilation.

B2 Vengeance for having been dispoiled during absence.

B3 Revenge for an attempted slaying.

B4 Revenge for a false accusation.

B5 Vengeance for violation.

B6 Vengeance for having been robbed of one’s own.

B7 Revenge upon a whole sex for a deception by one.

C Professional pursuit of criminals.

4. VENGEANCE TAKEN FOR KINDRED UPON KINDRED. Elements: Avenging kinsman, guilty kinsman, remembrance of the victim, a relative of both.

A1 A father’s death avenged upon a mother.

A2 A mother avenged upon a father.

B A brother’s death avenged upon a son.

C A father’s death avenged upon a husband.

D A husband’s death avenged upon a father.

5. PURSUIT. Elements: Punishment and fugitive.

A Fugitives from justice pursued for crimes, political offenses, etc.

B Pursued for a fault of love.

C A hero struggling against a power.

D A pseudo-madman struggling against an alienist.

6. DISASTER. Elements: A vanquished power, a victorious enemy or a messenger.

A1 Defeat suffered.

A2 A fatherland destroyed.

A3 The fall of humanity.

A4 A natural catastrophe.

B A monarch overthrown.

C1 Ingratitude suffered.

C2 The suffering of unjust punishment or enmity.

C3 An outrage suffered.

D1 Abandonment by a lover or a husband.

D2 Children lost by their parents.

7. FALLING PREY TO CRUELTY OR MISFORTUNE. Elements: an Unfortunate; a Master or a Misfortune.

A The innocent made the victim of ambitious intrigue.

B The innocent despoiled by those who should protect.

C1 The powerful dispossessed and wretched.

C2 A favorite or an intimate finds himself forgotten.

D The unfortunate robbed of their only hope.

8. REVOLT. Elements: Tyrant and Conspirator.

A1 A conspiracy chiefly of one individual.

A2 A conspiracy of several.

B1 Revolt of one individual, who influences and involves others.

B2 A revolt of many.

9. DARING ENTERPRISE. Elements: A bold leader, an object, an adversary.

A Preparations for war.

B1 War.

B2 Combat.

C1 Carrying off a desired person or object.

C2 Recapture of a desired object.

D1 Adventurous expeditions.

D2 Adventure undertaken for the purpose of obtaining a beloved woman.

10. ABDUCTION. Elements: The abductor, the abducted, the guardian.

A Abduction of an unwilling woman.

B Abduction of a consenting woman.

C1 Recapture of the woman without the slaying of the abductor.

C2 The same case, with the slaying of the ravisher.

D1 Rescue of a captive friend.

D2 Of a child.

D3 Of a soul in captivity to error.

11. THE ENIGMA. Elements: Interrogator, seeker, and problem.

A Search for a person who must be found on pain of death.

B1 A riddle to be solved on pain of death.

B2 The same case, in which the riddle is proposed by the coveted woman.

C1 Temptations suffered with the object of discovering his name.

C2 Temptations offered with the object of ascertaining the sex.

C3 Tests for the purpose of ascertaining the mental condition.

12. OBTAINING. Elements: A solicitor and an adversary who is refusing, or an arbitrator opposing parties.

A Efforts to obtain an object by ruse or force.

B Endeavor by means of persuasive eloquence along.

C Eloquence with an arbitrator.

13. ENMITY OF KINSMEN. Elements: A malevolent kinsman, a hated or reciprocally hating kinsman.

A Hatred of brothers:

A1 One brother hated by several.

A2 Reciprocal hatred.

A3 Hatred between relatives for reasons of self-interest.

B Hatred of father and son:

B1 Of the son for the father.

B2 Mutual hatred.

B3 Hatred of daughter for father.

C Hatred of grandfather for grandson.

D Hatred of father-in-law for son-in-law.

E Hatred of mother-in-law for son-in-law.

F Infanticide.

14. RIVALRY OF KINSMEN. Elements: the preferred kinsman, the rejected kinsman, and the object.

A1 Malicious rivalry of a brother.

A2 Malicious rivalry of two brothers.

A3 Rivalry of two brothers, with adultery on the part of one.

A4 Rivalry of sisters.

B1 Rivalry of father and son, for an unmarried woman.

B2 Rivalry of father and son, for a married woman.

B3 Case similar to the two foregoing, but in which the object is already

the wife of the father.

B4 Rivalry of mother and daughter.

C Rivalry of cousins.

D Rivalry of friends.

15. MURDEROUS ADULTERY. Elements: Two adulterers, betrayed husband or wife.

A1 The slaying of a husband by or for a paramour.

A2 The slaying of a trusting lover.

B Slaying of a wife for a paramour, and in self-interest.

16. MADNESS. Elements: Madman and victim.

A1 Kinsman slain in madness.

A2 A lover slain in madness.

A3 Slaying or injuring of a person not hated.

B Disgrace brought upon oneself through madness.

C Loss of loved ones brought about by madness.

D Madness brought on by fear of hereditary insanity.

17. FATAL IMPRUDENCE. Elements: The imprudent, the victim or the object lost.

A1 Imprudence the cause of one’s own misfortune.

A2 Imprudence the cause of one’s own dishonor.

B1 Curiosity the cause of one’s own misfortune.

B2 Loss of the possession of a loved one, through curiosity.

C1 Curiosity the cause of death or misfortune to others.

C2 Imprudence the cause of a relative’s death.

C3 Imprudence the cause of a lover’s death.

C4 Credulity the cause of kinsman’s death.

18. OEDIPAL. Elements: The lover, the loved, and the revealer.

A1 Discovery that one has married one’s mother.

A2 Discovery that one has had one’s sister as mistress.

B1 Discovery that one has married one’s sister.

B2 The same case, in which the crime has been villainously planned by a third person.

B3 Being upon the point of taking one’s sister, unknowingly, as a mistress.

C Being upon the point of violating, unknowingly, a daughter.

D1 Being upon the point of committing an adultery, unknowingly.

D2 Adultery committed unknowingly.

19. SLAYING OF A KINSMAN UNRECOGNIZED. Elements: The slayer, the unrecognized victim.

A1 Being upon the point of slaying a daughter unknowingly, by command of a divinity or an oracle.

A2 Through political necessity.

A3 Through a rivalry in love.

A4 Through hatred of the lover of the unrecognized daughter.

B1 Being upon the point of killing a son unknowingly.

B2 The same as case B1, strengthened by Machiavellian instigations.

B3 The same as case B2, intermixed with hatred of kinsmen.

C Being upon the point of killing one’s brother unknowingly:

C1 Brothers slaying in anger.

C2 A sister slaying through professional duty.

D Slaying of a mother unrecognized.

E1 A father slain unknowingly through Machiavellian advice.

E2 The simple slaying of a father unrecognized.

E3 The same case reduced from murder to simple insult.

F1 A grandfather slain unknowingly, in vengeance and through instigation.

F2 Slain involuntarily.

F3 A father-in-law killed involuntarily.

G1 Involuntary killing of a loved woman.

G2 Upon the point of killing a lover unrecognized.

G3 Failure to rescue an unrecognized son.

20. SELF-SACRIFICING FOR AN IDEAL. Elements: The hero, the ideal, the creditor or the person or things sacrificed.

A1 Sacrifice of life for the sake of one’s word.

A2 Life sacrificed for the success of one’s people.

A3 Life sacrificed for the happiness of one’s people.

A4 Life sacrificed in filial piety.

A5 Life sacrificed for the sake of one’s faith.

B1 Both love and life sacrificed for the sake of a cause.

B2 Love sacrificed to interests of state.

C Sacrifice of well-being to duty.

D The ideal of honor sacrificed to the ideal of faith.

21. SELF-SACRIFICE FOR KINDRED. Elements: The hero, the kinsman, the creditor or the person or thing sacrificed.

A1 Life sacrificed for that of a relative or loved one.

A2 Life sacrificed for the happiness of a relative or loved one.

B1 Ambition sacrificed for the happiness of a parent.

B2 Ambition sacrificed for the life of a parent.

C1 Love sacrificed for the sake of a parent’s life.

C2 For the happiness of one’s child.

C3 For the happiness of a loved one.

C4 The same as 2, but caused by unjust laws.

D1 Life and honor sacrificed for the life of a parent or loved one.

D2 Modesty sacrificed for the life of a relative or a loved one.

22. ALL SACRIFICED FOR A PASSION. Elements: The lover, the object of the fatal passion, and the person or thing sacrificed.

A1 Religious vows of chastity broken for passion.

A2 A vow of purity broken.

A3 Respect for a priest destroyed.

A4 Power ruined by a passion.

A5 Ruin of mind, health, and life.

A6 Passion gratified at the price of life.

A7 Ruin of fortunes, lives, and honor.

B Temptations (see 12) destroying the sense of duty, pity, etc.

C1 Destruction of honor, fortune, and life by erotic vice.

C2 The same effect produced by any other vice.

23. NECESSITY OF SACRIFICING LOVED ONES. Elements: The hero, the beloved victim, and the necessity for the sacrifice.

A1 Necessity for sacrificing a daughter in the public interest.

A2 Duty of sacrificing her in fulfillment of a vow to God.

B1 Duty of sacrificing, under the same circumstances, one’s father.

B3 Duty of sacrificing, under the same circumstances, one’s husband.

B4 Duty of sacrificing a son-in-law for the public good.

B5 Same case under the sake of reputation.

B6 Duty of contending with a brother-in-law for the public good.

B7 Duty of contending with a friend.

24. RIVALRY OF SUPERIOR AND INFERIOR. Elements: The superior rival, the inferior rival, and the object.

A Masculine rivalries.

A1 Of a mortal and immortal.

A2 Of two divinities of unequal power.

A3 Of a magician and an ordinary man.

A4 Of conqueror and conquered.

A5 Of victor and vanquished.

A6 Of a master and a banished man.

A7 Of usurper and subject.

A8 Of Suzerian King and Vassal Kings.

A9 Of a powerful person and upstart.

A10 Of rich and poor.

A11 Of an honored man and a suspected one.

A12 Rivalry of two who are almost equal.

A13 Rivalry of equals, one of whom in the past has been proved guilty of adultery.

A14 Of a man who is loved and one who has not the right to love.

A15 Of the two (or more) successive husbands of a divorcee.

B Feminine rivalries.

B1 Of a sorceress and an ordinary woman.

B2 Of victor and prisoner.

B3 Of a queen and slave.

B4 Of lady and servant.

B5 Of a lady and a woman of humbler position.

B6 Of a lady and two women of humbler class.

B7 Rivalry of two who are almost equals, complicated by the abandonment of one.

B8 Rivalry between the memory or an ideal (that of a superior woman) and a vassal of her own.

B9 Rivalry of mortal and immortal.

C Double rivalry (A loves B, who loves C, who loves D).

D Oriental rivalries (Hindu polygamy).

D1 Rivalry of two immortals.

D2 Of two mortals.

D3 Of two lawful wives.

25. ADULTERY. Elements: A deceived husband or wife and two adulterers.

A A mistress betrayed:

A1 For a young woman.

A2 For a young wife.

A3 For a girl.

B A wife betrayed:

B1 For a slave, who does not love in return.

B2 For debauchery.

B3 For a married woman.

B4 With the intention of bigamy.

B5 For a young girl, who does not love in return.

B6 A wife envied by a young girl who is in love with her husband.

B7 By a courtesan.

B8 Rivalry between a lawful wife who is antipathetic and a mistress who is congenial.

B9 Between a generous wife and an impassioned girl.

C1 An antagonistic husband sacrificed for a congenial lover.

C2 A husband, believed to be lost, forgotten for a rival.

C3 A commonplace husband sacrificed for a sympathetic lover.

C4 A good husband betrayed for an inferior rival.

C5 For a grotesque rival.

C6 For an odious rival.

C7 For a commonplace rival, by a perverse wife.

C8 For a less handsome, but useful rival (with comic false suspicions).

D1 Vengeance of a deceived husband.

D2 Jealousy sacrificed out of pity.

E A husband persecuted by a rejected rival.

26. CRIMES OF LOVE. Elements: The lover and the betrayed.

A1 A mother in love with her son.

A2 A daughter in love with her father.

A3 Violation of a daughter by her father.

B1 A woman enamored of her stepson.

B2 A woman and her stepson enamored of each other.

B3 A woman being the mistress, at the same time, of a father and son, both of whom accept the situation.

C1 A man becomes the lover of his sister-in-law.

C2 The man alone becomes enamored.

C3 A brother and sister in love with each other.

D1 A man enamored of another man, who yields.

D2 A woman enamored of a bull.

27. DISCOVERY OF THE DISHONOR OF A LOVED ONE. Elements: The discoverer and the guilty one.

A1 Discovery of a mother’s shame.

A2 Discovery of a father’s shame.

A3 Discovery of a daughter’s dishonor.

B1 Discovery that one’s wife has been violated before marriage… since the marriage.

B2 That she previously committed a fault.

B3 Discovery that one’s wife has formerly been a prostitute.

B4 Discovery of dishonor on the part of a lover.

B5 Discovery that one’s mistress, formerly a prostitute, has returned to her old life.

B6 Discovery that one’s lover is a scoundrel, or that one’s mistress is a woman of bad character… The same discovery concerning a so-called king.

B7 The same discovery concerning one’s wife.

C Discovery that one’s son is an assassin.

D1 Duty of punishing a son who is a traitor to country. A brother who is a traitor to his party.

D2 Duty of punishing a son condemned under a law which the father has made.

D3 Duty of punishing a son believed to be guilty.

D4 Duty of sacrificing, to fulfill a vow of tyrannicide, a father until then unknown.

D5 Duty of punishing a brother who is an assassin.

D6 Duty of punishing one’s mother to avenge one’s father.

28. OBSTACLES TO LOVE. Elements: Two lovers and an obstacle.

A1 Marriage prevented by inequality of rank.

A2 Inequality of fortune an impediment to marriage.

B Marriage prevented by enemies and contingent obstacles.

C1 Marriage forbidden on account of the young woman’s previous betrothal to another.

C2 The same case, complicated by an imaginary marriage of the beloved object.

D1 A free union impeded by the opposition of relatives.

D2 Family affection disturbed by the parents-in-law.

E By the incompatibility of temper of the lovers.

F Love

29. AN ENEMY LOVED. Elements: The beloved enemy, the lover, and the hater.

A The loved one hated by the kinsman of the lover.

A1 The lover pursued by the brothers of his beloved.

A2 The lover hated by the family of his beloved.

A3 The lover is the son of a man hated by the kinsmen of his beloved.

A4 The beloved is an enemy of the party of the woman who loves him.

B1 The lover is the slayer of the father of his beloved.

B2 The beloved is the slayer of the father of the beloved.

B3 The beloved is the slayer of the brother of her lover.

B4 The beloved is the slayer of the husband of the woman who loves him, but who has previously sworn to avenge that husband.

B5 The same case, except that a lover, instead of a husband, has been slain.

B6 The beloved is the slayer of a kinsman of the woman who loves him.

B7 The beloved is the daughter of the slayer of her lover’s father.

30. AMBITION. Elements: An ambitious person, a thing coveted, and an adversary.

A1 Ambition watched and guarded against by a kinsman or patriot friend or by a brother.

A2 By a relative or person under obligation.

A3 By partisans.

B Rebellious ambition (akin to #8).

C1 Ambition and covetousness heaping crime upon crime.

C2 Parricidal ambition.

31. CONFLICT WITH A GOD. Elements: A mortal and an immortal.

A1 Struggle against a deity

A2 Strife with the believers in a god.

B1 Controversy with a deity.

B2 Punishment for contempt of a god.

B3 Punishment for pride before a god.

B4 Presumptuous rivalry with a god.

B5 Imprudent rivalry with a deity.

32. MISTAKEN JEALOUSY. Elements: The jealous one, the object of whose possession he is jealous, the supposed accomplice, and the cause or the author of the mistake.

A1 The mistake originates in the suspicious mind of the jealous one.

A2 Mistaken jealousy aroused by a fatal chance.

A3 Mistaken jealousy of a love which is purely platonic.

A4 Baseless jealousy aroused by malicious rumors.

B1 Jealousy suggested by a traitor who is moved by hatred.

B2 The same case, in which the traitor is moved by self-interest.

B3 The same case, in which the traitor is moved by jealousy and self-interest.

C1 Reciprocal jealousy suggested to husband and wife by a rival.

C2 Jealousy suggested to the husband by a woman who is in love with him.

C3 Jealousy suggested to the wife by a second rival.

C4 Jealousy suggested to a happy lover by a deceived husband.

33. ERRONEOUS JUDGEMENT. Elements: The mistaken one, the victim of the mistake, the cause or author of the mistake, and the guilty person.

A1 False suspicion where faith is necessary.

A2 False suspicion (in which the jealousy is not without reason) of a mistress.

A3 False suspicions aroused by a misunderstood attitude of a loved one.

A4 By indifference.

B1 False suspicions drawn upon oneself to save a friend.

B2 They fall upon the innocent husband of the guilty one.

B3 The same case as B2, but in which the innocent had a guilty intention or in which the innocent believes himself guilty.

B4 A witness to a crime, in the interest of a loved one, lets accusation

fall upon the innocent.

C1 The accusation is allowed to fall upon an enemy.

C2 The error is provoked by an enemy.

C3 The mistake is directed against the victim by her brother.

D1 False suspicion thrown by the real culprit upon one of his enemies.

D2 Thrown by the real culprit upon the second victim against whom he has

plotted from the beginning.

D3 False suspicion thrown upon a rival.

D4 Thrown upon one innocent, because he has refused to be an accomplice.

D5 Thrown by a deserted mistress upon a lover who left her because he would not deceive her husband.

D6 Struggle to rehabilitate oneself and to avenge a judicial error purposely caused.

34. REMORSE. Elements: The culprit, the victim or the sin, and the interrogator.

A1 Remorse for an unknown crime.

A2 Remorse for parricide.

A3 Remorse for an assassination… for a judicial murder.

A4 Remorse for the murder of husband or wife.

B1 Remorse for a fault of love.

B2 Remorse for adultery.

35. RECOVERY OF A LOST ONE. Elements: The seeker and the one found.

36. LOSS OF LOVED ONES. Elements: A kinsman slain, a kinsman spectator, and an executioner.

A1 Witnessing the slaying of kinsmen, while powerless to prevent it.

A2 Helping to bring misfortune upon one’s people through professional secrecy.

B Divining the death of a loved one.

C Learning of the death of a kinsman or ally.

D Relapse in primitive baseness, through despair on learning of the death of a loved one.

The anonymous addition:

37. MISTAKEN IDENTITY.

A Thinking someone is rich when he’s poor.

B The wrong man caught in the web of fear.

C Schizophrenia.

[reproduced from here]